Racquets for sports such as tennis, racquetball, squash and badminton are well known in the art and by the public. Many currently existing racquets include a tubular frame made of a composite or other material which surrounds a string bed, with the string bed serving as the hitting surface for the racquet.
Although such racquets have many beneficial qualities, they also have drawbacks which this invention addresses. In the regions of the racquet frame in which the frame has a high degree of curvature, the material that exists on the outside of the frame will cover a greater distance than the material on the opposite or the inside of the frame. This can be seen in FIG. 1, wherein a standard racquetball racquet the length of the inner side of the racquet frame is significantly less than the length of the outer side of the racquet frame. This difference is most pronounced where the curvature of the racquet fame is the greatest. This difference in surface length causes the material on the inside of the frame to bunch or crease. This bunching or creasing, which is the unintended and random result of the manufacturing process, will cause wrinkles to form in materials on the inside of the frame, creating areas of weakness and undesired flexibility, as well as inconsistencies in strength and stiffness, in the frame. The creases, wrinkles or bunching that occurs in the inner side of the racquet can be seen in prior art FIGS. 2–3, which show a frame made out of laminations of fibrous material in a resin matrix, per conventional manufacture. As shown in these figures, creases, bunches or wrinkles 120 in the inner side 112 of a racquet frame 102 occur intermittently, causing various weak portions in the racquet frame. The resulting weaknesses, undesired flexibility, and inconsistencies in strength and stiffness, can affect the overall performance of the racquet and can also lead to a cracking or breaking of the racquet frame.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a racquet frame that reduces or minimizes the incidence of bunches, creases and wrinkles formed on the inside of the racquet frame and proximate areas of curvature of the frame.